


The Galahdian Way

by LunaUlric



Category: Final Fantasy XV, Kingsglaive
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Lunyxweek, braiding, galahdian, lunyx, mama ulric - Freeform, otp: the princess and the glaive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-22 23:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12492796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaUlric/pseuds/LunaUlric
Summary: A storytelling mother, a skeptic glaive, a giggling princess, and a hair to braid.





	The Galahdian Way

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Day 2 of LuNyx Week on tumblr. Prompt: Braids 
> 
> Like most of my fics it's set in my Kingsglaive AU where Nyx works as a bodyguard for Luna regularly unless ordered to battle. Consider this as my headcanon for Galahdian braiding xD.

She hadn’t told the story in ages and thought that she would never impart it again ever. But here she was in a shoebox apartment, sitting on a comfortable chair and about to tell it like she had to young ears all those years ago.

“There was once a great warrior who hailed from Galahd.” Elara began, observing the faces of those who listened. “He took down entire armies, braved the seas to vanquish monsters and defended villages that would have been left in desolation under evil forces.”

Then, she shot up a finger. “But there was one thing he couldn’t find. One thing his victories never gave him. And that was… Nyx?” She nodded to her son, asking him to continue.

Nyx, a grown man, looked at his mother with weary eyes while he sat lazily on the floor. She knew he could answer it because she had told him the story a thousand times before, making it impossible for him to just forget every word. Now, she couldn’t decide if the exhaustion he expressed was because he was tired of hearing it again or because his physical energies had already took a toll.

He tore away his gaze from his mother and looked up to the woman who was sitting barefooted on the couch. He was leaning on her calves that hanged from the cushion. Sky blue eyes met his own as golden hair sloped down her shoulders. Princess Lunafreya, who had traded the jewelry-adorned gown for a pair of loose pants and a simple tank top, gifted her glaive a smile that seemed to have urged him to answer.

“Sleep.” Nyx sighed as he returned the focus to his mother. “He couldn’t get sleep.”

That made the blonde giggle softly.

“Yes, he couldn’t get any sleep.” Elara continued. “Not even an hour, or a minute or a second of it. He fought and he killed until his bones can’t stand for him to fight another day but none of the battles gave him the reward… until he met a mysterious lady who had lived by the shores.”

“This is the weird part.” Nyx commented to Luna. Elara shot him a look but only shook her head afterwards instead of following it with her scolding comment.  _Oh dear son, you haven’t changed a bit_.

Nevertheless, she continued.

“The woman claimed that she can give him what he sought. And the warrior asked how. Simply, she said ‘Let me weave your hair like the ocean’s waves and you will receive your slumber’. The warrior didn’t laugh, nor did he scoff. He was desperate so he believed every word the woman had promised.”

A pause. The mother glanced at the reaction of her two listeners. The princess blinked in interest. The glaive now wore a smirk.

“So he laid his head onto her lap.” Elara told. “Touched his head from the scalp to the tips of his hair before every weave, as if she entwined every word of blessing into the strands.”

“Did it help him sleep?” Luna asked.

“Yes.” The older woman nodded. “In fact, even before she could finish the rest of the braiding, he started snoring.”

The blonde gave a laugh. Nyx did too, as if he forgot that he wasn’t hearing it the first time. Shortly, his mother gave the finale.

“The warrior slept for three long days. And when he woke up, there was tiny sea shell hooked into his braid. The woman put it there as a token for his valiant feats before she left to return to the shores where she lived.”

There was a short silence after that – a moment the Ulric matriarch was glad to witness because it was a sign that they had paid attention at least. The princess smiled with her eyes. A genuine listener, no doubt.

“That’s a wonderful story, Elara. Thank you for sharing it.” Luna gushed in her usual demure way.

Elara returned a genuine smile. “I’m glad that you liked, my dear.”

The princess looked down to her glaive, squeezing his shoulders with her palms. “So, do you want to try it?”

Nyx frowned. “It’s just a bedtime story, princess.”

Elara raised a brow. “There’s a point to the story.”

There was no need for further explanation really. The story was no mere entertainment; it mirrored the problem that the glaive faced today.

Sleeplessness. Or insomnia, as the princess fittingly called it because they now live in a city with the same name.

Nyx had tried everything – beer, milk, music, books.  Nothing worked and none so far. But one thing would. For Elara, the story also told of the cure. A traditional remedy, the one of many traditions that were passed down from generation to generation in every family in Galahd. It was the only thing her mind had recalled as soon as she found out that he couldn’t shut his eyes after an overnight guarding duty at the palace.

“Braiding.” he uttered in a slightly flouting way. “That’s what you’re suggesting?”

“Yes.”

“Mom, you didn’t need to tell the story for that.”

“I had to tell it for her highness’ sake and you needed to hear it because you aren’t convinced that it will work.” Elara cleared.

And also because it was part of the tradition - telling the simple legend to the beloved of the son.

Nyx gave her a look. “And I’m still not convinced.”

She couldn’t believe her ears. Her son, a pure Galahdian who had performed traditions in his homeland in his younger years, refused to catch the wonder of this tiny thing. But then again, it wasn’t entirely his fault. If only he saw her braiding his father’s hair. If only he hadn’t grown up too fast. Nyx was always the one who relied on sight and facts. And she now regretted failing to teach him that sometimes a little imagination is the key.

But it wasn’t too late. Her grown up son could still learn a thing or two. Especially now that he has someone to share it with. She knew and trusted the princess believed in the story. She saw it in the way her fingers played with his hair.  

“Now then,” Elara began telling her son. “Lean back so the princess can start.”

“The braiding won’t-“

“It will. Trust me.”

Nyx didn’t let go of the frown but he complied, letting his head rest on Luna’s lap. The princess’s palms stroked his hair to prepare.

“Just like in the story?” Luna asked the older woman.

Elara nodded. “Yes. From scalp to tips before every weave.”

And just like the woman who lived near the seas, the princess dug into his hair with her thin fingers. She combed it gently from the line at the edge of his forehead and down to the ends of the dark locks on the back of his head. Then, she began to weave. So meticulously, in fact, that Elara could tell she was minding all her blessings for him just like what the woman did in the story.

And only by that, the glaive’s eyelids drooped to a close.

“I’m ain’t sleeping yet.” he claimed rather too quickly.

Luna hung her head lower and half whispered to his ear. “Just you wait, my glaive.”

Elara released a small chuckle. The mother only watched them, no,  _adored_  this image of them. She saw his eyes lit up back at the blonde and the princess returning it with meaningful gander. There were no words spoken, just her hands fondly stroking his hair from scalp to tip before her fingers made a weave and him forming a dimpled smirk that matched his father’s.

Before the older woman’s eyes were something she had dreamed of for her children. In the past, she had predicted that her daughter, Selena, would be the first to carry the tradition since Nyx had always kept himself imprisoned in work and had avoided dating seriously. When Selena died, the mother had feared that it would never come to pass because the remaining child chose to venture beyond home to evade a quiet life. So far, he had only dwelled among friends in battle and on a very few one-time dates that were never worth hearing about.

Nyx would live a warrior’s life. Taking down armies, fighting monsters and protecting innocents in villages. And he would never find what he sought for.

Until now, Elara thought.

The princess was on her way on finishing a single perfect braid, stroking from scalp to tips before every twist of the dark strands. The glaive fought it with his eyes struggling to keep open, just to prove a point. Stubborn as always. But he was at the brink of defeat because even his words were slurred when she asked of his night in the palace.

When Luna was starting on the second braid, he was gone. Chest continued to rise and sink. Arms limped to the sides. Lips slightly parted. Halfway through the weaves and he started snoring. The blonde kept her snickers silent while she finished up with the last of the finger combing and the twists. She looked at Nyx’s mother with a toothy smile. The older woman nodded in approval.

After a short while, Elara got up. “I’ll be making some tea.”

When she reached the counter to get the cups and tea bags out, she caught the glimpse of the princess stirring the glaive to lie down on the couch instead, for better comfort. Nyx woke up a bit, still half asleep, and moved to the seat like his princess asked. He placed his head on the same lap and snoozed while Luna started to weave on the third braid.  

 _The story came to life_ , Elara mused. The only thing missing is the seashell which the blonde royal unfortunately didn’t possess at that moment. But older woman didn’t need to fuss about it, because Luna managed to give a token of her own, one that was much more valuable than any sea shell – a kiss, planted on the forehead of the sleeping warrior.


End file.
